Dr. Andrew Jacono’s Global Missions Aid 750 Children

Twice a year, Dr. Andrew Jacono leaves his Park Avenue office behind and boards a flight toward a surgical mission in a country where reconstructive care is largely out of reach. Over the course of his career, the dual board-certified facial plastic surgeon has operated on more than 750 children born with cleft lips, cleft palates, microtia, facial tumors, and burn scars.

His missions have taken him to Colombia, Ecuador, Thailand, and Vietnam, working alongside organizations such as Healing the Children, the HUGS Foundation, and THAI Children. He often brings fellow surgeons, and at times family members, to reach children who would otherwise grow up with untreated facial deformities.

Conditions With Consequences Beyond Appearance

A cleft lip or palate affects far more than how a child looks. Dr. Jacono has pointed to the functional toll these conditions take, including difficulty eating and breathing, alongside the social barriers they create. In many of the communities he visits, a visible facial difference can keep a child out of school or isolated from peers.

The surgeries address both problems at once, restoring function while removing a source of stigma that can follow a child for life. Dr. Andrew Jacono’s approach treats the whole situation a family faces rather than the physical deformity alone.

Roots in a Childhood Observation

This international commitment traces back to his years as a medical student, when he watched a girl who had cleft lip and palate surgery return to school and experience an entirely different reception from her classmates. That moment convinced him surgical skill could reshape more than a patient’s face.

Dr. Jacono has since climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, Cotopaxi, and Mount Elbrus to raise funds covering the logistical costs of these trips. Dr. Andrew Jacono also serves as Fellowship Director for the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, where he trains the surgeons who may one day join him on future missions abroad. Read this article for additional information.

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Twice a year, Dr. Andrew Jacono leaves his Park Avenue office behind and boards a flight toward a surgical mission in a country where reconstructive care is largely out of reach. Over the course of his career, the dual board-certified facial plastic surgeon has operated on more than 750 children born with cleft lips, cleft…